Installing Recess lighting - what to do with plastic tabs?

Question

Folks,I'm upgrading my current recess lighting to air-tight IC fixtures(Halo).  In the wiring compartment, the normal wires exist, but theyhave plastic "tabs" at the end of wires.  These "tabs" have 4 holes(shape kindda like a small house), one hole has the existing wire(blank, white, or green) and the other 3 holes are vacant.My question, I've tested inserting the appropriate wiring into thesetabs, and it does seem to work.  However, when I attempted to tape oneof the wire joins, one of the wires came out.So, do you recommend using these tabs to perform the joins?If so, should I tape the joins, as I normally would do?How do I get the exisitng wires out of the tabs?Thanks,Raj

RBM · Accepted Answer

Push the wires into the holes, after stripping about 1/2 inch of insulation. After it's inserted give it a slight tug, if it doesn't come out, it's good. Don't try to use tape. When they first started furnishing those connectors, I routinely just cut them off in favor of wire nuts, which I'm more comfortable with, but once I tried them, I've found that they work very well. On occasion, you get a bad one, that's why I give each one a little tug.

Mikepier · Answer

I agree, those backstab connectors are great, no more wire nuts.

Installing Recess lighting - what to do with plastic tabs?

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